I know how to read and write, I meant exactly what I said. I also said "approached". Reading...is truly fundamental.
Conference Expansion: Explosion Happening!
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That guy is just a pot stirrer.
And thanks for that last post. I have mentioned the alumni thing (maybe 40-50 pages ago) in the past.
Yeah, though I don't like 6 and 8 at all, D2 Bentley would be better than both.
CCSU...again, wish they weren't tarnished in the AD minds...but they are...and it's a shame. I mean, if I were the AE, I would actually go all in and go for LIU, Quinnipiac, Fairfield, Bryant, and CCSU. The last three allow the NEC to be held hostage to the football schools that are leaving due to the AQ. Then you split the league (and prevent yourself from potential future losses, which WILL occur).
North:
Maine
UVM
UNH
Lowell
Albany
Binghamton
South
NJIT
UMBC
And four out of the following five
Bryant (brings Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Field Hockey, and Baseball)
Quinnipiac( brings Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Field Hockey, and Baseball)
CCSU (would need to add Field Hockey and Men's lacrosse)
Fairfield (brings Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Field Hockey, and Baseball)
LIU (brings Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Field Hockey, and Baseball)
Not bad in Lax. Not bad in hoops. Not bad in baseball. Not bad in soccer. Don't worry about track...just give the title to Albany.
For hoops, you play your group twice...and the other division once (18 games for hoops, leaving you 12 OOC)
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Did you jettison UMBC for LIU?
Oops...sorry. It was supposed to be UMBC in there...fixed it. With a ONE of a group of five.
I wonder what the ADs think of the other NEC programs. I disagree about Bentley. They have a nice soccer/lax field. That’s about it. I’d rather take an NEC school.
I don’t see anything from PA/NJ/MD/DE being a huge interest right now.
I do think they try for a CT school.
1. QU
2. Fairfield
If they look outside CT but still New England
1. Bryant
2. Merrimack
If they look at NY
1. Marist
2. LIU (I guess due to size and desire to spend money)
All have their own + and -
I don’t see anything from PA/NJ/MD/DE being a huge interest right now.
I do think they try for a CT school.
1. QU
2. Fairfield
If they look outside CT but still New England
1. Bryant
2. Merrimack
If they look at NY
1. Marist
2. LIU (I guess due to size and desire to spend money)
All have their own + and -
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I love D96's proposal.
North keeps the "legacy" AE together with Lowell. A true NY-New England (Hockey East) division.
South is anchored by 2 newer AE members, one a former NEC program. So, the AE needs to add 4 schools.
Honestly, I don't think FU/QU will be interested, but it is worth the inquiry. Marist is not coming either. So after they decline, you move to the NEC.
I really think, the 4 that make the most sense as a group would be Bryant, CCSU, SHU, and LIU. They add all the sports that are key to the AE and now you have an "Amtrak" or I-95 division that spans from Providence to Baltimore, adding in the NYC and Hartford markets.
Not bad at all 👍
North keeps the "legacy" AE together with Lowell. A true NY-New England (Hockey East) division.
South is anchored by 2 newer AE members, one a former NEC program. So, the AE needs to add 4 schools.
Honestly, I don't think FU/QU will be interested, but it is worth the inquiry. Marist is not coming either. So after they decline, you move to the NEC.
I really think, the 4 that make the most sense as a group would be Bryant, CCSU, SHU, and LIU. They add all the sports that are key to the AE and now you have an "Amtrak" or I-95 division that spans from Providence to Baltimore, adding in the NYC and Hartford markets.
Not bad at all 👍
They have the Carnegie R2 rating which helps (all 8 left have R1 or R2). They are spending...and they do well enough in the sports the AE wants to, plus they're good at baseball and softball...but I do wonder how the spending is being spread around. They have a LOT of sports. They started hockey on a whim basically. From what I understand, they do not fund that very well. That means nothing to the AE, but LIU also seems to be giving at least precieved "varsity" status to sports that aren't under the NCAA banner like women's rugby and equestrian. I'm sure those take limited resources...but I also know stabling a horse is expensive (I'm sure every woman on the team comes from a tax bracket that can afford it), so I'd want to know if they're stretching themselves thin by offering athletic support to those sort of things.
That's far from a dealbreaker, because size, a good enough academic rating, location, endowment and competitively seem to be in line with the AE...I think there's a couple red flags on what is being allocated in the athletic budget. But, that's for AE officials to find out.
Merrimack is going nowhere. And Lowell won't want them in their backyard.
If, and only if, we had to dip in the D2 pool, Bentley has nice facilities
The Dana Center is better than some of the schools we are discussing (Marist, LIU, Merrimack, and Bryant) and can be reconfigured.
The baseball stadium is better than just about most AE stadiums not called Maine or Binghamton (I was there two nights ago).
Field Hockey would need an upgrade to the hardturf...but isn't bad
Bentley Soccer and Track is a really nice standalone facility
The softball field is trash, but can be easily upgraded with proper fencing.
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Um, what? Is women's rugby even an NCAA sponsored sport? And how many schools even participate?
Equestrian? On Long Island?
*Edit - I just looked these up. There are 83 schools in the country that sponsor Equestrian, with 19 NCAA DI schools. Rugby has 29 women's teams in the country, with 8 being DI. Interestingly, Q-Pac, Sacred Heart, Harvard, Mt St Mary's, Dartmouth, Army and Brown also sponsor Women's Rugby.
Rugby at the college level is administered by USA Rugby. It's open classification...most classify their teams as club sports but a handful on the men's and women's side give theirs "varsity" status. Women have it classified as an "NCAA Emerging Sport"
The only reason I know this is because in Vermont, Norwich University classifies their rugby as varsity.
College rugby - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
As for Equestrian, only 16 NCAA teams sponsor it as varsity.
National Collegiate Equestrian Association - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Some schools even have rodeo teams.
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Turns out that women's rugby is an NCAA sport with a maximum of 12 scholarships per year. It's an equivalency sport, not a head count like basketball, so those 12 can be split amongst more than 12 participants, just like softball and field hockey.
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Look at the sports SHU and LIU sponsor. It is some of the most comprehensive athletics programs in the country - on par with Ivys, Stanford, etc.
Lots of emerging sports, etc. Again, not sure there are many scholarship and these are not cheap programs to run, but I think this is what is driving enrollment. I assume LIU, is likely trying to be a major urban university and is investing in athletics as part of it's focus.
Sacred Heart has grown almost as fast as QU. It is the 2nd largest Catholic college in New England with a robust athletic program and solid academics.
Lots of emerging sports, etc. Again, not sure there are many scholarship and these are not cheap programs to run, but I think this is what is driving enrollment. I assume LIU, is likely trying to be a major urban university and is investing in athletics as part of it's focus.
Sacred Heart has grown almost as fast as QU. It is the 2nd largest Catholic college in New England with a robust athletic program and solid academics.
one change here: LIU's core athletics are in beautiful Brookville, LI. Not urban at all. Its in a gorgeous area of Long Island.
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I have been on the LIU suburban Brookville campus. It is situated on the former country estate of breakfast cereal creator CW Post. The family owned General Mills. The mansion is still there and is visible by the green circle space in the last photo posted above.
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America East has to go to 12....it's the only choice considering what the CAA has just pulled off and lot of NCAA stuff coming down the pike.
I don't know why Q or Fairfield would turn down an invite....if they have aspirations of "moving up".....they can certainly do that in the future....out of a higher profile America East. MAAC men's hoops has had its teams and moments......but the rest of the conference sports are meh. And the bottom of the MAAC is pretty bad across the board. If I were them....I'd certainly want to trade Canisius and Niagara for Maine and UNH.
I don't know why Q or Fairfield would turn down an invite....if they have aspirations of "moving up".....they can certainly do that in the future....out of a higher profile America East. MAAC men's hoops has had its teams and moments......but the rest of the conference sports are meh. And the bottom of the MAAC is pretty bad across the board. If I were them....I'd certainly want to trade Canisius and Niagara for Maine and UNH.
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That would be a 16-game hoops schedule (your other 5 division mates x2 plus the 6 in the other division x1). Other than that, all of this looks good.Yeah, though I don't like 6 and 8 at all, D2 Bentley would be better than both.
CCSU...again, wish they weren't tarnished in the AD minds...but they are...and it's a shame. I mean, if I were the AE, I would actually go all in and go for LIU, Quinnipiac, Fairfield, Bryant, and CCSU. The last three allow the NEC to be held hostage to the football schools that are leaving due to the AQ. Then you split the league (and prevent yourself from potential future losses, which WILL occur).
North:
Maine
UVM
UNH
Lowell
Albany
Binghamton
South
NJIT
UMBC
And four out of the following five
Bryant (brings Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Field Hockey, and Baseball)
Quinnipiac( brings Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Field Hockey, and Baseball)
CCSU (would need to add Field Hockey and Men's lacrosse)
Fairfield (brings Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Field Hockey, and Baseball)
LIU (brings Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Field Hockey, and Baseball)
Not bad in Lax. Not bad in hoops. Not bad in baseball. Not bad in soccer. Don't worry about track...just give the title to Albany.
For hoops, you play your group twice...and the other division once (18 games for hoops, leaving you 12 OOC)
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